Editor's note: This corrects to show that Valley Forge, not Gettysburg, is targeted for upgrades to its visitor's center.
President Obama's budget request for the 2016 fiscal year seeks $3 billion for the National Park Service, an increase of $432.9 million from current funding levels. That request seeks hundreds of millions of dollars for infrastructure needs, such as renovations to the Many Glacier Hotel in Glacier National Park and for safety, efficiency, and access upgrades to the visitor's center at Valley Forge National Historical Park in Pennsylvania.
While the Democrat's budget proposal generally is dead on arrival in the Congress, the request for the National Park Service could be treated favorably by the Republican-controlled chambers as 2016 marks the centennial of the agency.
"In 2016, the National Park Service will celebrate its Centennial by inviting hundreds of millions of Americans to find their park by visiting a park and sharing their favorite park story,” Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said in prepared remarks. “This budget will prepare the National Park Service to ensure that every one of those visitors has a wonderful and safe experience.”
Concerning the Park Service Centennial specifically, the president's request seeks $326.3 million to ready the agency and its 405 units for the celebration. The bulk of that amount, $242.8 million, is earmarked for deferred maintenance needs related to 6,735 projects across the system. Another $43.5 million is targeted to expand volunteer opportunities in the parks, introduce urban youth to the park system, boost seasonal staff, and help launch new park units authorized by the National Defense Authorization Act of 2015 that Congress passed in the closing weeks of last year.
Among the deferred maintenance needs mentioned by the budget were:
* $43 million for the National Mall and Memorial Parks in Washington, D.C., to install irrigation, drainage, water collection system, and re-landscape National Mall;
* $11.5 million for Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida to stabilize bastions 1, 2, and 3 of Fort Jefferson;
* $16 million for Glacier National Park in Montana to correct critical health and safety hazards in the Many Glacier Hotel Lobby and South Bridge;
* $7.1 million for Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina to rehabilitate the Wright Brothers visitor center;
* $15.4 million for Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming to protect public health by replacing water and waste water systems at Moose headquarters area, and;
* $9.4 million for Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming to provide seismic stabilization of lobby, porte cochere, and map room of the Mammoth Hotel.
"The President's request contains all the elements necessary for those of us who tend to America's Best Idea to repair an ageing infrastructure, respond to climate change, host school field trips, and provide rangers to greet nearly 300 million visitors with the highest standard of public service," Director Jarvis said.
The budget request also includes $40 million to provide the federal match for NPS Centennial Challenge projects and programs at national parks, "to catalyze creative initiatives to improve visitor services, support outreach to new audiences, and leverage partnerships to reinvigorate the parks while forging connections with communities. This will build on the 2015 appropriation of $10 million for matching projects. This is also complemented by a mandatory proposal to provide $100 million annually over three years for the Centennial Challenge to complete signature projects and programs with partners."
Another $16 million is requested for the agency's Natural Resource Stewardship and Science, "including $3.5 million for climate-change adaptation projects, $1.3 million for oceans and coastal resource stewardship, $1.2 million for coordinated science-based response to energy development, and $10 million for climate change resiliency projects to be matched on a 50:50 basis with non-federal partners under the Challenge Cost Share authority."
At the National Park Foundation, interim President Dan Wenk said the budget request "contains vital support for expanding the use of parks for experiential learning and recreation, engaging hundreds of thousands of volunteers, repairing aging infrastructure, dedicating resources to ensuring the parks are safe spaces where all narratives can be shared, telling America’s proudest moments and reflecting on America’s struggles, and connecting urban communities with their national parks."
"We are also pleased that the proposed budget acknowledges the importance of public-private partnerships, such as those leveraged by the National Park Foundation and local Friends Groups, with its inclusion of the federal match for National Park Service Centennial Challenge projects and programs," he added in a prepared statement. "We look forward to working with individuals and organizations to make these matches come to fruition for our national parks.”
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Comments
An increase of 432 million dollars. And the fee machines will continue. Because there is never enough money for the NPS. Add that to the stimulus spending and Obama is a great friend of the NPS.
I guess the million (or maybe billion) dollar question is how much is enough? How much will all of those fee increases generate on top of this (if approved) and how much more will the NPS request or will this be sufficient to address all of their needs and for how long? When it is not your money it is pretty easy to keep coming back and begging for more. More so when that also funds your own livelihood. Are there any checks or rewards for saving taxpayer dollars?
.
Charge anyone that is not a US citizen 10 times more to enter a National Park than a US citizen pays. Parks should not be a burden on the tax payers. They should be a burden on the users of the Parks. http://www.aroundtheworldineightyyears.com/should-foreigners-pay-more/
whipperin--That's not a bad idea. Many countries differentiate between foreign and their own citizens regarding entrance fees. I'm not sure 10 times is the right multiple, but a case can be clearly made for different entrance fees for national and foreign visitors.
Rick
The idea of charging visitors from other countries a premium price comes up frequently. But stop and think for a moment. Our national parks may well be our nation's single best ambassador as we welcome people from around the world with open arms and American hospitality.
In a time when we need all the friends we can find in the world, why would we want to roll up the welcome mat?
The debate comes down to "is it good business practice" versus "is it xenophobia"?
Or could it be neither of those, Rick.
I view it as something akin to a common practice in some parts of southern Utah where gas stations jack prices up in summer and then give a "local discount."
Last time I visited Hovenweep and was enroute to Natural Bridges, I fueled up at White Mesa on the Ute Mountain Reservation. I think the price per gallon was $3.69 there. I needed groceries, so proceeded into Blanding where I noticed gasoline was priced twenty cents higher. On a whim, I pulled in to one of the stations and asked the young man if they had a local discount. He replied, "Depends on where you're from."
I told him I'm from northern Utah. He grinned and said, "Yeah, I guess that's local enough." I could have bought gas for $3.69 as a "local."
As I left the station, I warned a family from Oklahoma and sent them ten miles down the road to the reservation.
Heading south again, I drove some extra miles back to the Chevron station on the res and went inside to thank the young Ute lady at the counter and asked her to pass along my thanks for being honest to the station's managers and owners.
She laughed and then asked, "Well, haven't you ever heard of us Honest Injuns?"
Good business practices? Not in my book.
But then, I guess I'm not a good businessman because I still believe in honesty and fair play. I'd have a hard time resorting to the kinds of practices that seem to rule in today's world of business.
Thank you Lee, "gouging the tourists" or in any other group they can get away with, is an age old practice, I see it to frequently. Supply side economics at its worst. I am not sure it fits in with "golden rule", treat others as you would like to be treated.
Thats why you are not in business. Of course it is good business to give your potential repeat customers a discount. Nothing dishonest or unfair about it.
How is it any different than a senior citizens discount, ladies night, discount for Tuesday customers but not the same on Wednesday........ Its called marketing, nothing unfair or dishonest about it. The buyer knows the price and agrees to pay it.
BTW - I don't see how this marketing practice has anything to do with supply side economics.
Right, Ron. I have no objection to discounts of various kinds, such as the 10% I sometimes get at a restaurant. But those discounts are up front and open, not hidden somewhere.
In some places gasoline prices on the big billboards say something like, "CASH PRICE $3.68." This lets potential customers know up front that they will save some money if they pay with cash instead of a card.
That way, the customer may make an informed decision. They will know there are two prices and will be able to agree or disagree with paying it.
Lee, virtually every business you patronize from restaurants to hardware stores, department stores to flower shops all have multi-tiered pricing systems where different types of customers pay different amounts. And you don't have a clue about any of them. It is the way business is done and there is nothing unfair or dishonest about it. You don't like the price they are charging, don't buy it. You think they are being unfair and dishonest - then open your own gas station.
Socking the foreigners... Well, most state colleges do that already! It's always the same story. Nobody wants to pay for anything, and we're always looking for somebody to pass the bill to. For example, cities love to have a hotel tax, since it's paid primarily by folks from out of town. Or look at how taxes have increased on cigarettes (not that it's a bad thing), since smokers have become a minority and therefore get outvoted every time.
While deferred maintenance on the Appalachian Trail isn't mentioned specifically, this story of 36-year-old AT hiker who got killed by a tree that had been slated to be taken down by the National Park Service, suggests there's a serious backlog. And it cost one hiker ' s life.
http://www.your4state.com/story/d/story/hiker-dies-after-being-trapped-u...